


What do we fight for?

by Batwish



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 08:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16114451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batwish/pseuds/Batwish
Summary: What's worth fighting for? What is worth starting a continent-wide war over? Dark magic? Pride? Vengeance?Once, Rayla thought she had an answer for that. Once, Callum thought he was on the right side of the war. Once, elves where just deadly bloodthirsty monsters from stories and humans were a greedy distant enemy that couldn't truly threaten Xadia.Now they can't say they believe that anymore.





	What do we fight for?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope no one's expecting action, because this is anything but. I might write some more adventurous TDP fics later, but this is just a lot of head canons said through the mouths of the characters. Wanted to get this out before season 2 came along and shattered them all. Personally, I love Rayla's accent, but it's not happening in this fic. She talks too much here. I know that Rayla isn't quite that talkative in the show, but she was the only one who could explain all that, so here she's just in a chatty mood.  
> This work was not beta read so while I like to think my grammar is fine, there might be typos and the like. If you spot them, I would be delighted if you could tell me and I would fix them :)  
> Also, this is in no form a shipping fic. They were just the only characters who could really talk about all that so I went with them.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or the Dragon Prince and I make no profit from this work.

Rayla’s ten feet off the ground, sitting on a sturdy branch, staring out at the land of the human kingdoms that she can see. The tree she’s on grows at the very edge of a cliff, the ground far, far below shrouded in mist. In the distance, snowy mountains and forested valleys stretch out as far as she can see, here and there dotted by human villages. And on the horizon, near invisible in the growing darkness, is the volcano that is the border to Xadia and the home of the dragons. Above them, the moon shines its beautiful silver light over the land, even thought its no thicker than her blades.

She breathes deeply, savoring the cool fresh air and the feel of moon magic swirling around her, no matter how weak. This is her time, her element. She has nearly forgotten how much she misses being awake at night.

That’s how Callum finds her, more than an hour later, still captivated by the night. He balks at the height she’s in, but swallows his nervousness and walks up to the tree, keeping it between him and the cliff edge. He left his bag and sketchbook back by the fire close behind, so there’s nothing to weight him down, but his arms still tremble and his feet can’t stand properly as he ever so slowly starts to edge his way upward the trunk.

He makes it about two feet, reaching for the first branch, before he looks down and sees that the tree is tilted away from safe ground and over empty air and his legs are dangling above the terrifying fall. He cries out in surprise and jerks back, wrapping all limbs around the thick wood and rough bark, even as his balance fails and he feels his entire body, at first slowly then ever faster, slide to the side. He hears a click of metal sliding against metal, but pays it no mind. His world tilts and turns, making him feel sick, and his hair lifts from his face as he comes to a stop at the bottom of the trunk, limbs encircling the tree like koala (he thinks he saw one before in a book).

Callum’s throat constricts as he clutches the wood as close as he can, scratching his face on the bark and trying not to think about the fall down, because _he is going to fall and there’s nothing to catch him and he can’t let go even an inch, it’s so far down, just down down do–_

Suddenly there’s something gripping his shoulder and he opens his eyes to find a four-fingered hand wrapped in the fabric of his jacket. The skin of the wrist is dark and bruised and the fingers seem to strain to hold on. Looking up, Callum meets Rayla’s unimpressed stare, her other arm holding onto a hooked blade that’s lodged in a higher branch.

Grunting, the elf heaves him upward and Callum uses her help to scramble his way to the right side of the trunk and then up to the branch she was sitting on. Once she lets go, flicking her sword back into its sheath and clipping it to her back, the prince scoots as close to the trunk as he can, doing everything he can not to look down; doing so makes his head spin. His breathing slows and he wipes away the moisture that gathered in his eyes and on his forehead.

His heart nearly leaps out of his chest again when Rayla casually drops down onto the branch a foot or so from him and the safety of the trunk and the whole tree shakes. She shoots him a concerned look before saying, “Didn’ know ya were scared of heights.”

“I’m not scared.” He defends, cheeks reddening slightly. “I just like to stay away from falls that could kill or main me.”

Rayla hums in disbelief, smug as can be. The human remembers their little river adventure and instantly knows that he’s not living this down for a _long_ time.

“Aren’t you worried you’ll fall?” He has to ask. Because he has seen what she can do, but this still seems ridiculously risky. Rayla just raises an eyebrow in response and Callum hurries to elaborate. “I mean, it’s just one slip, or misstep or even a stronger wind and then there’s nothing to catch you.”

“I don’t fall.” The assassin says simply, with so much conviction that Callum knows he’s fighting a losing battle. Instead he looks out into the distance, breathing out in surprise as he catches the mesmerizing view. Every inch of the land is bathed in soft pearly light, leaving sharp black shadows everywhere. It seems magical. A mystifying, mysterious magic. And maybe it is.

The silence stretches on for a few more moments and Callum subconsciously relaxes, momentarily forgetting his fear of heights. Then Rayla shifts, drawing one knee under her chin and letting her other leg hang from the branch and he scoots back to the trunk, gripping a neighboring branch.

“Is this what you fight for?” She asks softly, also gazing out at his kingdom. Callum is speechless for a moment, not sure if she spoke at all. He doesn’t reply; he doesn’t know the answer.

“Though, what do any of us fight for? What’s worth this war?” She continues and Callum isn’t sure if she’s expecting an answer. She might have forgotten he was there.

“I don’t know.” He answers anyway. “What do you fight for?”

Rayla’s long ears swivel to the sound of his voice, but she keeps herself still. Her eyes are distant and she doesn’t reply for a long while. Then,

“I fought for Xadia. I used to fight to protect its wonder. I told myself that no human would set foot over the border alive. Now look at me. Leading two of you straight into its heart.”

She snorts out a laugh, though it feels sad and bitter even when she tries to joke. Callum’s expression saddens at it.

“But now? I can’t. Not anymore.” The elf talks softly, lost in thought.”Not when I see that this side of the world looks just the same.”

“What?” Callum feels he has to interrupt her, just to get some clarification on that. “What did you expect to see here? In Katolis?”

Finally she looks over at him and suddenly he’s struck again by how human yet foreign she looks.  Now,  actually talking about their different world-views,  he’s reminded that they come from two opposite world s ; he’s back in the castle hallway when he saw his first elf and realized that all the stories and child toys never showed that despite the differences, elves look like humans, move, talk and feel just like humans.

He’d gotten used to her horns and long ears, to her lilac skin tone and strange marks and four-fingered hands, to the way she walked, purposeful and assured yet constantly taut, ready to spring forward. Now the moon reflects in her violet eyes, making them glow like a cat’s, and her hair turns silvery and bright. Her horns are outlined in white, throwing sharp shadows across her face. The way her body is curled around her leg, lean muscled arms under her knee and hands on her shoulders. Everything about her suddenly screams that she’s not human.

But unlike their first meeting, Callum doesn’t feel scared. He sees the similarities and the differences and he takes comfort in all of them, because although she swore to end the king and his brother’s lives, she is a good person, dedicated to doing the right thing and she _didn’t_ , when she saw there was no reason. Because although she is a deadly fighter and assassin, she only ever uses her skills to defend their little trio. Because she provides perspective on things he never even imagined.

“I expected a land stripped of all life and nature and beauty. I expected the ground to be charred and for everything to be a wasteland where humans fought each other for survival.” She says with steel in her voice and Callum balks.

“Woah, woah. That’s harsh. What gave you that idea?” He exclaims defensively.

Rayla looks back out into the distance and the silence stretches on again. Callum is ready to accept he’s being ignored, when she speaks again.

”There are stories in Xadia. About humans. That humans are twisted, wicked creatures that seek destruction. They are selfish and only look out for themselves. Everyone always warns that they’ll turn your words against you and they lie more than they speak truth.” She whispers, tucking her head deeper into her arms, biting on her bottom lip with sharp canines. Her eyes trail the horizon that Callum can’t see anymore.

“Oh,” He shuffles in place uncomfortably, not sure how to react. He wants to get defensive and be offended at that, but then he remembers all the stories that he’d heard about elves, how everyone called Moonshadow elves monsters when they came for justice. He’s a little put off, wondering what happened that led to stories like this to form on both sides.

Rayla finally releases her leg, letting it dangle down as she leans back a little, looking up at the moon with a small smirk on her face. “That’s actually why I was being so difficult on the road before.” He laughs out loud and the elf joins him. “I was afriad you were leading me into a trap. Sounds ridiculous when I say it now. Your heart might as well be gold and Ezran is too young to be that devious and I don’t think he even knows how to lie. So there was distrust on both sides that caused that avalanche.”

“Good to know I’m not the only screw up.” He jokes with a chuckle. They both fall silent after that. After a while, Rayla leans her head back, horns scraping audibly against a branch behind her head. Absently, she takes one of her blades and flicks it open to twirl it around in her hand. Callum moves further away from the sharp point slashing the air in front of him.

Wryly, he notices that she’s using her bad hand, something she’s been doing frequently since getting the assassin’s banding off. He’s not sure if she does that to make it heal faster or just habit, but it’s obvious she likes having it back. She may have been ready to lose it for Ezran, but she is clearly happy with this outcome.

“You were right, you know?” Her voice catches him off guard, shaking him out of his thoughts. He lifts a questioning eyebrow at her, waiting for her to elaborate. “What you said back at the castle. That vengeance just leads to more vengeance.”

Rayla turns her head to look to the ground, where they’ve set up a fire and where Ezran is sleeping soundly, clutching Bait to his chest and entangled in a dragonic hug from Azymondias, who is wrapped around the two tail, legs, wings and neck. A soft smile crosses her face.

Callum follows her gaze and looks at his half-brother. He remembers being cornered by an assassin, remembers the fear that coursed through him as she stalked forward like she had all the time in the world. He remembers feeling another ice-cold emotion, not quite fear, not quite anger, just determination and protectiveness, when she revealed she was there to kill his little brother. He remembers feeling brave and stupid at once as the adrenaline kicked into high gear and he put his life on the line for his brother.

“I guess due to all the rumors and beliefs running around Xadia, I thought no one would care. That the other humans would just move on with their lives and take the punishment we brought. It’s dumb, I know.” She said. “It’s different to kill someone in self-defense or on the battlefield when everything is chaos, than to kill them because of something that isn’t even their fault. Especially when I realize there are others would miss them.”

Callum’s stomach churns at how easily the words roll off her tongue, even if there’s a severity behind her words that makes them seem heavier; the easy way she talks about almost killing like it’s a fact of life. The click of her sword steals his attention in time to see the elf sheath her weapon and put it away; his eyes linger on the dark purple skin that peeks out from under her wrist guards, a reminder of what she was willing to do. The binding might be gone, but it has left its mark.

And then he remembers what she said.

“ _Only two people need to die tonight. I’m here for the king and his son.”_

“ _So long as Ezran lives, this binding will only get tighter and tighter until I lose my hand.”_

She said that only Ezran needed to die for her to be free of the binding. Callum is afraid to ask, to even wonder what that means. He knows, deep down he _knows_ , knew before she said any of that, that something happened. He saw the Moonshadow assassins, saw Rayla fight and knew that there was no chance. But he won’t tell Ezran; he needs to keep him away from the dark truth as long as he can. And he doesn’t have any proof, so it might be wrong. He begs for his hunch to be wrong.

So, to distract himself, he changes the subject. “ So,  what is Xadia like ? ”

Rayla snaps her eyes to his, faint firelight reflecting in her irises. She just stares at him for a minute, so still the human wonders if she turned to stone. He squirms in place a little, very mindful of the long drop below them.  Then she leans back fully and just stares upward at the sky  through the canopy of leaves .

“It’s not much different from here.” A gentle smile crosses her lips. “It’s almost like looking into a shattered mirror, the is image warped and flipped, but it’s still the same enough to be recognizable.”

“It is? I mean, I get that what humans know about elves and Xadia is really off, but I dunno, I expected it to be different anyway.” Huh, just like Katolis. It’s weird to think about. Callum always imagined Xadia to be filled with magic and everything to be big and dangerous and grandiose. If it’s just the same, what is this war for? Why do humans even need to go there? Could the magic really be worth all the lives? Would it be worth Ezran’s life?

“So did I. But it’s not. Magic might not be as strong here and all the villages and houses are human, no dragon nests or elven clans. But at its heart, it works the same as home.” So Xadians have families and loved ones and there would have to be elves not involved with the war. That seems unlikely. Aren’t all elves supposed to be formidable warriors?

“Oh. Really? But most people don’t even know how to fight and except for guards and knights, no one else is really involved in the war.” Can Xadia really work that similarly.

“Neither are elves. There are many civilians who have nothing to do with the conflict. It’s only the warriors and high society elves and dragons that have anything to do with it. Believe it or not, most elves can’t hold a weapon.”

Callum is silent as he thinks on what she said. It made sense, in a way. There’s no way that all of them would be the same dangerous fighters as Rayla. “I guess I just–I see you fight and the way you’re always ready for it, it’s hard to imagine an elf that’s _not_ a some lethal assassin. ” He says with a shrug, face reddening slightly.

H e ducks his head as the elf shoots him the most deadpan look.  Heh, he probably deserve s that. “ Course not. ”  Rayla says, tone condescending as though she is talking to an idiot. “Most folks don’t bother coming to the border, though, so  I guess assassins are all humans ever saw of us. ”

C allum doesn’t say anything, so Rayla continues. “I know when someone says assassin, you think of the worst, but that’s not how it works.  In Xadia, anyone who wants to serve by fighting  or protecting has to first became an assassin.  It’s the base training and position.  From there, you can advance to trackers or  spies or  warriors. And the ones who prove themselves time and again, they get a place on the Dragon Guard, one of the most honorable jobs there are. ”

“So they’re like knights and the Crownsguard.” Callum whispers to himself, amazed. He thinks back to the boys around the kingdom talking about becoming knights and defending the Breach, back to hearing guards around the castle compare kills and boast about how many elven lives they ended in fights. He can’t deny the similarity. Except Rayla doesn’t take death lightly. “Is that why you trained to be one? To protect Xadia?”

“Well, in part. Truth is, it was expected of me, since both my parents were on the Dragon Guard, so I started my training before I could walk properly. I’ve had a sword for as long as I can remember.” Then her eyes lower and the warmth leaves her voice. “Then, when the humans struck down the king of the dragons and supposedly destroyed his egg and my parents were exposed as cowards, everyone thought I would be the same. They didn’t say it, but they made it clear. That’s when I decided that I would get myself chosen on the mission of retribution on the human king. I wanted to prove to them that I was better than my parents. Funny how I did the exact opposite.”

“You’re going to help stop the war. There’s nothing cowardly about mercy and looking for a peaceful solution.” Callum states forcefully, crawling forward a little to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly. She gives a half-smile in return. Then the expression falls.

“If it were that simple. You have to realize, Callum,” She says quietly, looking away, “that just returning Azymondias might not be enough to stop this war.”

C allum’s insides freeze at the words. It feels like a punch to the face. “What do you mean? I thought that’s what this was about. Two human princes righting the wrongs of their  f ather.”

Rayla doesn’t flinch at his forceful tone and the prince feels like tearing his hair out. Damn politics. Of course there would be more to it. The elf shakes her head slowly. “That will stop the dragon queen from unleashing an official war. But what about your kingdoms? Assassins were sent after a king. That alone could be taken as a declaration of war.”

S he hesitates for a moment, debating her next words. “And, loathe I to admit it, the elves and dragons are too proud to try to  offer peace themselves . Everyone back home believes that Xadia  i s th e one wronged, so it’s the humans that need to make amends.”

Callums slumps against the tree, sighing. “And even i f the Pentarchy doesn’t declare all out war, there are plenty of people who would take arms regardless of the kings’ orders and try to storm Xadia on their own.”  There have been attempts before, though most were stopped before they crossed the border.  But they’re getting more and more followers. People know something  big is coming and are unsettled by it. So when someone points at Xadia and says it’s  the elves and dragons’ fault, frightened people follow.

Rayla nods in agreement. Silence reigns again as they both contemplate their predicament. Callum almost wishes that Ezran would wake up and interrupt the somber mood that’s dragging on his shoulders. But his ever-cheerful brother remains blissfully unaware.

Then the elf exhales miserably and her entire posture seems to deflate  when she speaks. “ So might the dragons  and elves. Most might not want anything to do with the war, but there are plenty of people that lost loved ones  on the battlefield and want to avenge them. and many who, once they realize that my team failed to kill Ezran, will come after him to finish the job themselves,  just so they would feel better .  And many more that  just  want to wipe humanity from the land. ”

_L_ _et them try_ , Callum thinks as he scowls into the darkness. He might not be a good swordfighter and without the primal stone, not much of a mage, but he ads would roll before someone put even one finger on his brother.

“It’s a mess.” He says. “A thousand years of things spiraling out of control and now we’ve finally come to the tipping point.”

“And even if we manage to salvage peace, it’s not gonna last. These same problems are gonna spring up again. Tension will rise until someone throws the first punch.” Rayla admits. It’s clearly something she knew for a while, maybe from the very first moment they decided to return the egg. “If we want to do anything permanent, some fundamental things will have to change.”

Y eah, Callum knew that. He just didn’t know if people would be willing to go along with it.  Right now, both sides are too busy wallowing in self-pity to see that and both were too proud to be the first to step down. “ Guess we have our work cut out for us. Well, when we return, me and Ezran will  be in a position to maybe change some things. We are princes, after all.  But what about Xadia? ”

R ayla’s entire posture sags. “I don’t know. I might be able to win the favor of the Dragon Queen, when we return Azymondias, but if they find out that I not only failed my one mission, but was also the reason for my team’s discovery  and then subsequently helped my target and brought humans to Xadia…  the leaders might listen to reason, but the masses won’t . ”

“Oh Rayla.”

“I didn’t say I regretted it.”

Callum winced. “Yeah, but still. Harsh.”

He got a half-hearted shrug in response. “Might seem that way. But even if I  had the crowd’s favor, Xadia won’t budge an inch so long as dark magic is used by humans. ”

“Why?” Callum frowns. “That’s the one thing that we have and Xadia doesn’t. Your people need to get down from their high pedestal and see that just because they can’t use it, doesn’t mean it needs to be eradicated.” Annoyed, he glances downward, for once not flinching from the sheer drop below as he mulls on that. So Xadians are the type to shun new things that might help simply because they’re not something they understand. Fantastic.

To his surprise, Rayla  laughs .  “ As much as I agree on that front,  that’s not the problem . ”

“Then what?” Dark magic might sound like a bad thing, but it has proven itself a salvation for humanity time again. Many times, it was the only thing that kept enemy forces at bay. It was new magic, more powerful than the rest. But when the elves and dragons found out that humans had something that might rival their might, they became disdainful and afraid, because humans suddenly had the option to become independent from elves. The elves tried to threaten humans back into submission and when that didn’t work, they exiled them and cut them from their rightful place and ancestral lands.

A t least, that’s what all the history books said.

“Dark magic is too dangerous.” Callum opens his mouth to argue, but she beats him to it. “Do you know how it works, Callum?”

S ourly, he sh a k es his head. All that he ever heard about dark magic  i s  _that_ it saved them, not  _how_ .

“It doesn’t draw from a primal source like magical creatures or runes. When a mage draws a rune or says an incantation, they draw magic from primal energy and once the spell is completed the energy returns to the source. Nothing gets damaged.”

Callum nods. That makes sense.

Rayla’s voice grows colder. “But dark magic doesn’t have a primal source. Instead it steals magic from creatures and nature that has it and kills everything it touches. And not just that; all the primal sources have a purpose, a trait. Sun is creation, Moon is misdirection, Stars are wisdom, Earth is healing, Ocean is evolution, Sky is survival. Dark magic has none, except maybe destruction. It’s unpredictable. Everything in Xadia could be used for dark magic. I guess that’s what your little cube is for: to find magic in nature. So anything that lights it up would be killed for dark magic.”

“Is that why Viren stole the egg?” Callum asks quietly, afraid of the answer. Was that what Claudia meant when she said it was a powerful weapon? Because some terrible magic could be harnessed from it? And now from Zym? Outrage bubbled up in him. “They would kill Zym for some stupid spell? What about Bait? Or you?”

T he look that Rayla shoots in the direction of the castle could freeze an active volcano.  It’s a look that  fits more the assassin she was meant to be than the elf that Callum has gotten to know, who would sacrifice her hand for Ezran.  When she speaks, her voice sends shivers down his spine. “Yes. Just like they would kill every last creature that found sanctuary in Xadia. That’s why Xadia needed to be cut off from humanity, because even though it’s not the majority’s fault, one dark mage  would be enough  to raze it to the ground. ”

Callum’s eyes tremble as he tries not to imagine what the would mean. But it also explains one thing he always wondered about. Why did no magical creatures exist in the Pentarchy. It was weird, because the border was something that people made up, animals wouldn’t care for it. But if human mages  hunted them down for spells… that would make sense.  But,

“How are you so sure that’s all true? All the other bad things we knew about Xadia or you knew about humans were wrong. Can’t this be as well?” Could Claudia really be some heartless killer? She might not even know how bad it is, right? Well, he could see how that seemed appealing to Viren.

Rayla’s eyes are hard and cold as steel when she looks at him. “Because I saw what was in the dungeon  where Zym’s egg was. ”

C allum tries to think back to the room shrouded in shadows, but all details are fuzzy and unfocused. All but the elf stalking towards him and his brother with two wicked  sharp  swords, ready to use them. “ Uh what? I was kinda preoccupied to really notice.  Trying not to die and all that. ”

Rayla doesn’t laugh with him, but the furious look melts away a little. “ Ingredients for dark magic. Creatures from Xadia that were cut up and put into jars.  E lven skulls and dragon horns displayed like some sick  museum. ”

The prince grimaces and tries to imagine it with their positions flipped. He closes his eyes as his imaginary world forms around him.  He’s walking slowly down a corridor following two murky figures. And on the walls, there  are human skulls and skeletons hung from the ceiling, random bones arranged on shelves.  A glowtoad is dead in a bottle, floating in a yellowish liquid. Huh, it looks like Bait almost…

H e jerks out of the daydream instantly, gasping. Instead of a dark morbid hallway, he’s back on the tree above a deadly drop and Rayla is looking at him worriedly. Right. He just imagined that. But it was scarily realistic.

“That’s just proof of it.” Rayla is talking again. “And so long as it’s used even a little, all of Xadia will see humanity as an enemy.”

“But humans won’t stop using it until the elves and dragons let them back into Xadia and declare peace. It’s kinda the only thing we have on Xadia.” Great. They’re stuck in a circle. And neither side is willing to break it. That’s just perfect.

Both of them are quiet as they ponder the true nature of the problem. This is going to take more than just one dragon prince to fix. Returning Azymondias is just the first step.

“Are we in over our head?” Callum finally whispers. “This has been brewing for what? A millennium? And we’re no heroes who do miracles.”

“We’re an odd bunch, true, but we have had a miracle already.” Rayla smiles as she flicks her left hand to prove her point. “We might not be hailed as heroes, but we’re definitely a one of a kind group. A mage who knows nothing about magic, an assassin that can’t kill and two princes that nearly died because of a war not their own.”

“Yeah, not to mention the amount of laws we’re breaking. I mean, we’re supposed to be mortal enemies. I can just imagine Aunt Amaya’s face if she found out. She’d be so mad.” Callum exclaims dramatically and they both laugh. The somber mood slowly slips away.

“What do we know, maybe once Zym and Ezran grow up and take charge of the kingdoms, they’ll finally get it all under control.”

“That’s still far away. The war won’t wait for them. You need to accept that.”

“You need learn what optimism is. It would do wonders for you.”

“Oh yeah, like get me killed.”

“You wound me.”

°…..oOo…..°

H ours later, long after  the humans have gone to sleep (it had been quite a hassle to get Callum down from the tree, not in the least helped when the elf pretended to drop him. Payback), Rayla finally decid e s that she need s to sleep as well.  But her talk with  Callum is too fresh in her mind.  What if they can’t stop the war?  What w ill they do?

T he logical answer is that they go back to how it was before she met them. But that’s not possible. The king is dead. She still hasn’t told them though and it weights on her mind every day.  She d oes n’t know how exactly human kingdoms work, but when the dragons lost both the king and his prince, all of Xadia was thrown into chaos. The Dragon King, or Thunder (as the humans called him), was their protector. He had protected them for millennia.

She remembers the frantic scramble  as the elven clans and the Dragon Queen tried to mobilize  what forces they had  on a suddenly wide open border . By the time they fought back, the human army, though weakened and wounded, was already far  in Xadia . They pushed them back, barely, but they did. Living as they had under constant protection, all elves who wanted to fight would train to become assassins or spies or other positions that  required stealth and tactic and often venturing into enemy territory.  Very few could fight in an open battlefield where they have to pay attention to who’s the enemy and who’s the ally. Assassins only ever travel in small groups of six where everyone kn o w s everyone else and everyone ha s a place in a fight.  That’s also how she knows that her team didn’t make it out after their mission.  They  must have been exposed without their sixth member.

T he home that Callum and Ezran would return would be drastically changed.  She isn’t sure if they could take that on top of the pressure of stopping the  impending  war.  But even then, they would probably want to go home after they finish their mission.  And like Callum said, they have the position to change things.

She d oes n’t.

Would she  go back to her clan to be shunned like her parents for trying something so foolish?  She doesn’t think she can go back to training to be an assassin. Her already soft heart is only softened by spending time with Ezran. If she didn’t have the courage to swing her blades before, she wouldn’t now  or after .  But maybe on the battlefield, she could find that instinct that Runaan talked about.  She  could train as warrior to defend the border instead of an assassin; they ha ve a painful shortage of those.

N o matter what, she  wants to protect Xadia,  if it really comes down to the war.

B ut that means that she and Callum and Ezren would end up as enemies.  She has given up on trying not to get attached. Somehow, these two humans grew on her and she can’t imagine having to fight against them.  And she thinks, maybe, they wouldn’t want to fight her either.

_P_ _lease let Azymondias be the answer,_ she pleads silently.

But at least she knows what she fights for. For Xadia. For peace.  For the humans she came to call friends.

°…..oOo…..°

Miles away, locked in a golden bird cage, green eyes watched the throne room of Katolis. The bird ruffled its green and black feathers and glared at the portrait placed next to the throne in remembrance. Two figures stood shoulder to shoulder on it. There was no sight of the tragedy that now tore them apart. The bird made no sound, yet had a thousand words to say.

Harrow watched through the eyes of his most loyal companion as Viren walked in and, in the secrecy of night, sat on the throne.

“Soon,” he told the bird with a dangerous smile “All we need are the terrible news of the princes’ untimely demise and Xadia will finally be ours again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo, did anyone catch the Steven Universe reference? Probably not. You'd have to have SU songs memorized for that and I doubt there's another person that crazy.
> 
> Has anyone tried listening to This is War by Thirty Seconds to Mars while thinking of the Dragon Prince. I swear, it fits so well.


End file.
